Operator controls for stand-up, narrow aisle, lift trucks having a single hand lever are desirable because they are easy to operate, take little training to master, improve productivity and are less prone to operator error.
A type of control system for such trucks is one that uses functional switches which the operator can select by pressing a button to condition the electric circuit for the desired function. A manual control is then actuated to cause the resulting movement, such as tilting the forks.
One potential difficulty with this type of control is that it may not always coordinate adequately the physical movement of the control lever with the mental or cognitive activity in selecting the function especially where the single lever also controls forward or reverse and the mast functions as well.